Hand tremor when nervous, anyone else?

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I have right side hand tremor when I am speaking in front of a crowd, big or small. Example: doing announcements at school, my students even ask me, " are you ok Mr. Cook? I had to take over the phone with my left hand. I just smiled and went on. Also starting tremor when holding hands in a prayer circle. I apologized to the lady when we were finished. She know my situation and understood. Does anyone else experience this? thanks

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Yes. Parkinson's seems to thrive on stress; not just the bad forms that can leave me feeling stressed, but the good forms that can excite, too. Almost any amount of stress can increase my symptoms dramatically. Never gave much thought to stress before Parkinson's. It was a part of life to be managed, controlled, and directed. And though they never felt like stressful events before Parkinson's, talking and interacting with groups now seem to produce similar results. When I closely analyze those situations, I now see what look like tiny threads of stress that I never gave much concern to previously in such routine, everyday activities. Is it the multitasking involved with listening, thinking, finding the words, pumping those words to the vocal chords, and then getting the mouth to work? I don't know. Besides Carbidopa-Levodopa (which stress seems eventually able to break through), yoga has taught me a couple of methods to help stiffle the stress responses. Supplements like L-Theanine also help me remain calmer. There are probably more accurate medical terms and excuses. Just my observations.

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Ditto BigRingGrinder + my left hand tremors when I write (with my right hand). Holding hands during prayer - yes. Talking to someone - yes. I don't even know that you could call these things stress. Like BigRingGrinder said, it seems more like multi-tasking to me.

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Good discussion. Like Patrot said it can be good stress...i tremored at a symphony...can't imagine if I had been to a rock concert! I tell grand kids it is my happiness barometer...happier I am, tremor increases...they think it is funny. On a serious note, I have avoided adding meds when stress increases symptoms. Once environment changes, symptoms relax

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My mom loved the casinos. She could sit at a slot machine for hours while seeing the coins roll out when she either pushed the button or pulled the lever when she got lucky. That was the older machines that she liked. Once the casinos started to phase them out and put in the ones where you just accumulate points and get tickets she was totally lost and then didn't have interest anymore. Anyways.. I used to make sure she was medicated before she started playing and it never failed that she would start to shake once she sat down. I think the adrenaline just pumped up and everything went into over drive.

Edited June 25 by miracleseeker

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Nice observation, miracleseeker. I can see how that might occur. From what I understand, when the human body (mind) detects stress, the brain signals the adrenaline glands to release the hormones adrenaline and cortisol into the blood stream to enable the fight or flight response in the body. I didn't feel "stressed" or "anxious," but my MDS keeps talking about how Parkinson's can break those system so that it either can't adjust the amount of hormones to dump (and just dumps at maximum rate), or the system is broken so that it is always full-on--regardless of the threat or need.

Okay, my MDS said that those systems were broken in me and constantly turned full on.

My response was something like: "how is that possible? I didn't feel stressed," and beside, the "fight or flight response" couldn't be constantly "on" because I never feel the need to "fly" away from danger; rather, instead I always feel the constant readiness to stay and "fight" regardless of whether a threat exists.

[Doctors have got no sense of humor.]

Maybe the max adrenaline dump is also why I now have such an awesome bluff in poker. Regardless of my cards, I am so pumped with adrenaline at getting out, having fun, sitting down and playing with friends or strangers, with talking with friends and strangers, that my tremors are misinterpreted by the other players as a sign that I am excited; and that I am excited because I have a real strong hand. So there is at least one cool aspect to Parkinson's.

Naturally, one downside is a recognition that compulsion is a constant companion of Parkinson's and the only way I know to control or regulate compulsion is to avoid situations where compulsion could cause damage if it took over my reasoning. Some of the many such situations I've observed where compulsion can cause me damage are those that involve spending money--like playing poker.

A nastier side effect for me is the inevitable crash when the adrenaline and cortisol shut off. Takes my body many days to recover.

Yup, the tremors can certainly be a barometer of happiness; and I am also slowly learning that they can be a caution sign for me to check for stressors and calm the mind and body.

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I look like I'm having a freakish seizure when I get really upset or cold. It is ridiculous but I know what it is so I just go with it....tell people it's my PD but it will go away. My son got a lead in a musical in 2 months-I can only imagine what I may look like. Keep you posted...

I am also in deep trouble if I ever get pulled over for a traffic violation- I will not respond well I'm sure.

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I am also in deep trouble if I ever get pulled over for a traffic violation- I will not respond well I'm sure.

I got pulled over a while back. The cop noticed my tremor and said that I looked nervous. I explained that I had PD and he didn't say anymore and gave me a warning. However, if he had believed that something more was wrong and demanded that I walk a straight line, I'm not sure how that would have gone. Therefore, I now carry a copy of my diagnosis in my vehicle so that I can prove that I have PD.

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Nervous, cold, using other hand, working out. They all make my tremors worse. My tremors are mostly in my hand, but a couple of times when presenting to a board meeting, I could feel my backside shaking. Bet the audience behind me got quite a show!

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I have tremors when nervous. My MDS ordered Metoprolol and it works. I take it before situations when I get nervous and I have very few tremors. I've been dx well over 3 years and am only on Azilect. BTW I love the book Jesus Calling. Read it daily.. The Lord is always there for us if we let him in our life.

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I have tremors when nervous. My MDS ordered Metoprolol and it works. I take it before situations when I get nervous and I have very few tremors. I've been dx well over 3 years and am only on Azilect. BTW I love the book Jesus Calling. Read it daily.. The Lord is always there for us if we let him in our life.

Thanks ... I'm going to ask about metoprolol

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Maybe the max adrenaline dump is also why I now have such an awesome bluff in poker. Regardless of my cards, I am so pumped with adrenaline at getting out, having fun, sitting down and playing with friends or strangers, with talking with friends and strangers, that my tremors are misinterpreted by the other players as a sign that I am excited; and that I am excited because I have a real strong hand. So there is at least one cool aspect to Parkinson's.

Grinder..

This made me laugh...always wondered if there was an upside to the "mask"...lol. I get andrelin rush while riding HD trike...but because I have resting tremor, I dont tremor with hands on throttle and clutch. However, while riding as a passenger...then I tremor...alot!

Keep swimmin'

NN

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It happens to me too. And I also get a kind of bad hangover when I've been through a stressful situation, like an important meeting, or a disagreement with someone. I find it incresingly difficult to face these kinds of situations, afterwards I just have to rest and close my eyes and calm down. My head hurts, I guess as a result of the stress hormones rush. The pain takes a lot of time to go away. My left side (my bad side) tremors a lot more during these situations. But the worst part for me is what happens afterwards. It's like I'm losing my ability to manage stress successfully - my body no longer can handle it. So I'm working really hard to avoid these situations in the first place.

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I have tremors when nervous. My MDS ordered Metoprolol and it works. I take it before situations when I get nervous and I have very few tremors. I've been dx well over 3 years and am only on Azilect. BTW I love the book Jesus Calling. Read it daily.. The Lord is always there for us if we let him in our life.

I like the book you mentioned very much, but I thought Metoprolol was for heart rhythm (arrhythmia ) problems, so I'm confused about it being prescribed for PD.

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Any time I have something coming up at a specific time and I'm getting ready to go out for it, my hands shake uncontrollably. Just a teeny-tiny sense of pressure as to doing things are a certain time that is coming up makes me shake. Takes me about 3 times as long to do things when I'm like that. And I also have the hand writing issue (micrographia), which is a cardinal symptom of Parkinson's. Really weird, isn't it, to start out writing kind of normally and then see it get smaller and smaller, and mine starts going uphill, too. I remember my dad having trouble with handwriting as he got older, and he used to use his other hand to steady his wrist so that at least what he wrote would be intelligible. I've done that and found it to help, too.

And I have the same problem as you whenever I'm using a spoon, NGU."

When you said, "Is it the multitasking involved with listening, thinking, finding the words, pumping those words to the vocal chords, and then getting the mouth to work?" I had to laugh. That describes so well what happens often when someone has said something that I think about responding to. It is only later or the next day that I wonder why I didn't just say it. It is so strange. I've learned this is especially bad when I'm tired. I can't find the words I want, in addition to not being able to put the sentence together that I want to say.

Putting nail polish on is one of my most difficult things to do. The brush ends up polishing a lot more than just my nail.

I feel like an old person. Isn't 70 the new 50? I feel younger than I am, but my Parkie body does not coincide with that feeling.

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DH has a card he can carry in his wallet that says "I'm not drunk, I have Parkinson's". Intended to be useful when driving in the event he does get pulled over which does indeed increase the tremors along with other activities. Probably wise to keep a copy of the medical diagnosis in the car too though since I don't know how convincing the card would be to an officer.

When we are entertaining at home and the tremors, "slows" and/or clognition appear we like to joke that "he doesn't have PD he's drunk". We all laugh and then remember the great lyrics from Jimmy Buffett's song "Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On"

I bought a cheap watch from a crazy man
Floating down canal
It doesn't use numbers or moving hands
It always just says now
Now you may be thinking that I was had
But this watch is never wrong
And If I have trouble the warranty said
Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On